


Foundations

by Winds_of_Inspiration10



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Family Member Death, Gen, Smoking, final chapter will have some mature references, non-explicit sexual references, pre-movie events, some strong language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3456827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winds_of_Inspiration10/pseuds/Winds_of_Inspiration10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before they met the Hamada brothers, before SFIT, before they became members of the Big Hero 6, they had their own journeys that set them on the paths to their futures. A story of the lives of Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, and GoGo Tomago before the movie's events. There will be some thematic content.<br/>Semi-Prequel to "Operation Phoenix" (coming soon).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Order and Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Big Hero 6. All Rights reserved to Disney and Marvel.

**Of Order and Chaos**

_"The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos.  The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and his enemies." - Napoleon Bonaparte_

  

            At a much younger age, Terrance Donovan Jr. could barely remember a time in his life where there was a lack in organization.   But he does know where the mindset came from.  As far back as his earliest memories were concerned, his mom constantly reminded him and his two older sisters to keep their rooms nice in case their dad would be coming home.   His Dad was a military man, someone he looked up to for as long as he could remember, and he always boasted about how his Dad was not home because he was being a hero.   Thus Terry would go above and beyond to outdo the tidy tendencies of both Shauna and Becky combined.

           Shauna had her clothes perfectly folded and sorted, not a single shirt on the floor.

           Terry created a sock index.

           Becky had her books alphabetized by author and subject.   

           Terry created name labels for every writing utensil in the house.

           Their Mom would make sure that the kitchen was always spotless after every meal.

           Terry remembered taking the phones of all his family members and re-organizing their apps by color.  

           Shauna chuckled, shaking her head, Becky rolled her eyes in annoyance, but that didn’t keep Terry from boasting about his ability to be the most organized, especially when their Dad came home, and gave him a hug and saying “That’s my boy!”

 

* * *

  

           Order can’t last forever.  Sometimes things fall apart.  Terry learned that lesson when he was thirteen.

           Shauna had been living in New York for some time but Becky was in her last year of high school.  He remembered Becky pulling him out of school, saying that their Grandmother was going to pick them up.  When they got home the inside of their house resembled the aftermath of brief, mild earthquake.   Broken picture frames, books thrown everywhere, and their Mom weeping into a pillow.   The words exchanged between his Mom and Grandma were a blur for all he remembered being said coherently that day was, “Becky, Terry, your Daddy isn’t coming home anymore.” That time had turned into flashes of crying with family members, crying alone, the formal procession of the funeral, and soon after, the change and disorder in his Mom.

           It seemed his mom would just stare into space, as if she were  the one thing in time left frozen, while the world kept on spinning as always.  At least facing that ordeal was avoidable when Becky was around.  She was able to walk him to his room whenever their Mom would suddenly burst into a fit of tears.   But of course she had to leave for college.  He thought that as long as he could re-establish his system, re-alphabetize the books, keep together the sock indexes, and re-label any old labels that were fading away that perhaps his focus and home life would in turn maintain that order for him.  Of course, his Mom’s resistance to that order only continued.   

           One day after school, he saw both of his grandparents waiting for him patiently.  Upon seeing him they gave a suffocating hug and told them that his Mom needed some time away and that he would be living with them in the mean time.  

            This was anything but okay.

           This opened a door to more chaos in his life.

           Chaos was the enemy. 

           But then when they got to his grandparents’ house his grandmother sat with him to talk about it.

 

           “Terry, your Grandfather might disagree but I think you’re old enough to understand the truth.

           “What truth?”

           “Your mother’s going away because she needs help.”

           It didn’t take too long for him to put the pieces together himself.  In hindsight, his mom’s tendencies to lock herself up and cry, ignoring his pleas to open the door made even more sense.   While he did understood, he also felt like his mom was throwing him away.  Like he didn’t matter.

           “Terry.  I know things are difficult now, but your father, he died a hero.  And I think the best you can do right now is be a hero yourself to your Mother.  We’ll be visiting her every week so try to do what you can to be her hero, can you do that?”

           “Yes ma’am.”

  

* * *

  

           By the time his senior year of high school came around, Sarah Donovan was out of rehab, but because of her instability, she chose to reside with her in-laws and son.

           Even so, Terry was uncertain of his ability to be there for his Mom.  True, she was no longer locking herself up to cry and no longer had moments where she froze, .  But the last memory he had of her smiling was starting to fade.

           That was until he got a message from the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.   When he showed the email to his Mom, he began to get scared seeing small tears stream down her face. Until she started to laugh, and gave him a hug.

           “My baby boy is all grown up!” Looking down at her he saw that she looked as proud of him as a lion would be of their newborn cub.

           Seeing her smile for the first time in five years was a sign that he had become his mother’s hero.

* * *

 

           Terry was prepared to walk through the doors of SFIT that would segue into this new chapter of his life.   Last night, he made sure that everything he would needed was already packed so that he could save time in getting to orientation.  Of course, what he did not anticipate was that he’d be hallucinating the contestants from the cooking show his family watched being present.

           More specifically, the runner-up of the past season of _The Nation’s Got Flavor._

           After he rubbing his eyes, he saw that the same person his grandparents were cheering for all summer taking a seat in the auditorium.  Approaching her he asked, “Hey umm… I’m so sorry, this question is going to be weird, but you wouldn’t happen to have been on _The Nation’s Got Flavor?”_ The girl immediately smiled, making her already pink and yellow style even brighter.

           “Yes, that was me, Anita Aurora Martinez!”

           “Wow! You were amazing!  My Grandma and I actually made your “Unadon and Onigiri” with your recipe last night, the sauce makes it excellent!” 

           “Thank you! My main strategy throughout the competition was to include a little bit of myself in every dish. But enough about that, what’s your name?” 

           “You can call me Terry,” he says smiling, extending a hand. She returns the handshake before kissing each of his cheeks.  Given her biography from the TV show, he figured it was probably customary for her.

           “And you can call me Anita.”

 

* * *

 

           Under their adviser Professor Callaghan, Terry felt that his group of friends, known affectionately as the Nerd Squad, had become inseparable pretty quickly. 

           It was nearing the end of freshman year when they began researching for their projects for their declared majors.   At this point, he was pretty certain he was going to use something with lasers.  Everything had an order and was going swimmingly.

           Of course, that order began to face change in the Nerd Lab, starting with the day they all met Fred Lee.  Fred was the new mascot who somehow managed to get the job despite not being an SFIT student. From what Terry had heard, Fred was an English major at San Fransokyo State and was doing the mascot job to satisfy physical education credits.   Thanks to the fact that Tadashi Hamada could qualify for the “people person of the century” award, Fred became an honorary member of their group, which consisted of himself, Anita, Tadashi, and a girl who chose to go by Ethel rather than her real first name, whatever that was.

           Correction: Himself, Tadashi, Ethel, and Honey Lemon as Fred called her, the namesake coming from her signature combination from her time on _The Nation’s Got Flavor._

           Speaking of whom, they were now at Honey Lemon and Ethel’s dorm sharing a lunch made by Honey herself that fateful weekend.

           It was just a simple, down to the point request for his dish.

           It should have been carried out without a problem.

           But chaos had found a human form, and his name was Fred Lee.

           “Honey, could I have no ginger with my wasabi please?”

           “Sure thing! Just a second!” 

           Of course he should’ve insisted on clearing their floor when he first noticed the bolts, and screws, and various bike parts lying around.  Such a scene was screaming, “DISASTER!”.  In the end, Honey slipped on a screw as she was returning with the ginger-less wasabi for Terry.  As Honey caught herself at the table, the bowl of wasabi fell from her grasp, creating a splatter of wasabi all over his white shirt.  Whether it made his shirt look like it had been covered in baby barf or took a serious hit from a paint gun was up to anyone’s interpretation.

           “Wasabi.”

           “Excuse me?” Terry narrowed his eyes at a slap happy Fred, who might as well have been consuming nitrous oxide to be laughing as hard as he was to then point at Terry shirt and declare, “My friend! You have earned your nickname! Today you shall be forever known as Wasabi!”

           Rolling his eyes Terry got up to wash whatever he could off his shirt in the bathroom, muttering to himself, “Wasabi…. Seriously? That better not catch on when I step out of here.”

  

* * *

 

           Years had passed.  It had been over a month since Callaghan’s trial and life sentence as well as Baymax 2.0’s creation.  As much as he hated to admit it to himself, the nickname Wasabi had grown on him.  Then again, so had the life of being a college kid and a superhero with his friends.  Had he told himself all those years ago he would be spending half of his time taking down some of San Fransokyo’s greatest criminal threats in a suit that gave him laser hands, he would have thought he’d lost his marbles.

           Today however, amid all the chaos and order he had to navigate, Wasabi found that perhaps if there really is a grand plan in the end then maybe the plan for him is to be one to provide the control, the order, and the organization where chaos, disarray, and havoc ran freely.

           But whatever bit of pandemonium he was tasked with kicking back into a proper place, Wasabi knew that he truly did succeed in being his mother’s hero.

 

 

 


	2. Of Fiction and Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before they met the Hamada brothers, before SFIT, before they became members of the Big Hero 6, they had their own journeys that set them on the paths to their futures. A story of the lives of Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, and GoGo Tomago before the movie's events. There will be some thematic content.  
> Semi-Prequel to "Project Phoenix" (coming soon).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Big Hero 6. All rights reserved to Disney and Marvel

**Of Fiction and Friendship**

  _“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right path, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”- Anne Frank_

            

            Frederick Lee loved his house. He could never picture himself living anywhere else. In fact, he spent his whole life in that same house and he wouldn’t have it any other way.  There were few things he could say about his abode that he didn’t like.  The Tempur-Pedic mattress that made him feel as though he was sleeping on a soft cloud, the iScreen that took up the upper half of his wall, the grandiose dining hall large enough to seat over twenty guests, and his room of comic collections, action figures, and his gallery of fan art; that didn’t even cover half of the reasons why he loved living in the family mansion.

           He remembered where his love of the visual arts stemmed from.   Fred was six when his parents and Heathcliff sat him down in their private movie theater and watched a series of old movies, some of which were over a hundred years old.  The first of those movies they watched: _Superman_ from the year 1978, almost a century ago.

           From that screening forward, Fred was hooked on movies about superheroes.  No matter how ridiculous the costume, or if the plot holes outnumbered the portraits his family displayed in their hall, nothing could spoil his interest in superheroes.   That love grew when his parents gave him a collection of first editions of comic books that chronicled the tales of such superheroes as _The X-Men, The Avengers, The Justice League, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, The Guardians of the Galaxy,_ and many more.  Then soon it expanded into many different action heroes.   Rather than keep up with the latest TV show trends, he watched old shows such as _Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Supernatural, Doctor Who,_ and even read old graphic novels, his favorite being what he considered to be the “King of all Comic Books”, _Watchmen._

           Fred’s house was his paradise.  What he wanted he could get without any trouble, including the need to feed his insatiable obsession with comic book media.  Being home-schooled by Heathcliff definitely had its perks.

* * *

 

           Fred couldn’t put his hand on when exactly it started, but he felt a void in his heart.  He didn’t make anything of it for the longest time.  He was living the dream of a thirteen year-old comic book nerd, possessing mint condition action figures, first editions of various comic books and graphic novels, and a collection of movie adaptations that could overwhelm a library.   All of that plus living in a mansion made any potential problems absolutely minimal for him.

           But then he decided to go to the park while his parents were away on their island.  With a graphic novel in his lap as he sat on the bench, he couldn’t help but find himself distracted by number of little scenes playing out before his eyes.     

           A boy who was probably his age was helping a much smaller boy, probably his little brother, with a device that appeared to be controlling some metal shoes on a cat that allowed it to levitate.   The cat that was meowing in a state of desperation to return to the ground was a sight in it of itself, but it was the interaction between the two siblings that drew him.  

           Fred soon noticed a group of kids who were probably a little older than him, lounging near the fountain across from where he was sitting.  There were probably five of them.  One guy was trying to read as two other guys in his company were throwing a ball.  One girl was sitting on the ground near that same bench strumming a guitar, while another girl seemed to be struggling to get the attention of the reading guy while a joint rested between her fingers.   Despite the diversity in their activities they all seemed to pay mind to one another in some way.

           That void seemed to become more pronounced. Fred returned his attention to the book, in which two close friends were about to fall into a portal, with little to no escape out, holding each other’s hands, reassuring the other that they will always be their best friend.    That was Fred’s light bulb moment.  As soon as he returned home, he began to follow in the steps of his superhero role models and make the ultimate plan.

           That plan: to make friends.

* * *

 

           He continued homeschooling, but decided to expand his horizons to make friends and be like his heroes.   Fred knew that he couldn’t exactly put on a suit and start beating up bad guys so he decided that he would start small.   Throughout his homeschooling period for high school, he signed up for different volunteer opportunities with groups such as the San Fransokyo Food Pantry where he helped distribute meals for the less fortunate.   Soon he decided to expand upon his charity enterprises and signed up for Habitat for Families where he began spending his weekends helping to build houses for families who lost homes because of natural disasters. The traveling element involved definitely made it all the more exciting.  

           Finally when he was halfway through completing his high school work, he decided to join the San Fransokyo chapter of Brothers From Other Mothers, where he became the “older sibling” of a young child with special needs, hanging out with them during the week, and even reading them comic books.   It seemed that all this charity work made a huge difference on the day he received his acceptance to San Fransokyo State University, where he would be able to explore his love of comic book literature even more as an English major.   Smiling he looked up to the portrait of his father hanging against the wall.

           “Hey Dad, I know you and Mom are busy but I just want you to know that I’m going to college and I hope you’re proud of me.”

           When his parents came home later that month, he was grateful that they had enough time to shower him in praise before they had to make their way to their next private island adventure.  

* * *

           Strangely enough, it was after he began his position as mascot for SFIT that Fred felt he was making real friends.   Fred thinks he knew they were his real friends when he began imagining each of them as a different comic book character archetype or combinations of certain archetypes as well as bestowing them with nicknames… or superhero identities?

           Nonetheless he pictured that Anita, or Honey Lemon, was like the bombshell beauty that the enemies would regret underestimating; Ethel or GoGo Tomago was that dark horse with a heart of gold…if he wanted to really stretch it he would go so far as to say she had some sort of dark, mysterious past.  Terry, who he recently dubbed Wasabi would definitely be the one who keeps everything together and makes sure nothing goes wrong, or out of place.   As for Tadashi, he was like the wise, responsible mentor figure to Hiro, the young and charismatic prodigy bound for greatness.

           Sadly, it seemed the last of those comic book tropes came true.

           Fred remembered when he started getting into a comic series known as “Spider-Man” and how it was when Peter Parker failed to be there for his Uncle Ben the night he died that drove him to become a vigilante.

           While some of his fellow English major peers would go on about how they wished they could go to Hogwarts, yearned to ride dragons, or wish their lives could be as adventurous as the world of fiction, it was that fateful night of the exhibition that Fred decided in the end, some things were better off fictitious.

           Especially when it seemed that Tadashi was the sheep brought to the slaughter that triggered the formation of their superhero team.

* * *

           It had been over a year now.  Hiro was turning sixteen in a few months, the Lucky Cat Café reopened after some renovations were made over the summer, and the Big Hero 6 were definitely cleaning up crime in San Fransokyo.  Fred would be lying if he said he didn’t love how action packed life had become.  Especially since he learned the reason behind his Dad’s constant absences growing up.

       Though none of the threats have measured up to the same level as Callaghan yet, Fred had a feeling that this current case of disappearing Jane and John Doe's from hospitals around this part of the state, based on his extensive comic book research, could potentially hold a candle to the adventure that started it all.

           


	3. Of Limits and Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before they met the Hamada brothers, before SFIT, before they became members of the Big Hero 6, they had their own journeys that set them on the paths to their futures. A story of the lives of Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, and GoGo Tomago before the movie's events. There will be some thematic content.  
> Semi-Prequel to "Operation Phoenix" (coming soon).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Big Hero 6. All rights reserved to Disney and Marvel.

**Of Limits and Dreams**

_“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman_

 

            Anita Aurora Aiko Miyazaki Martinez.

            Her full name in all it’s glory.

            Having five names was something most of her family, her sisters included, were not that all fond of, especially when legal documents came into the picture.   Anita however, wore her full name like a badge of honor.   Her parents encouraged her and her sisters to be proud of who they were; never forget where they came from.   Her parents were only children when they were smuggled into the United States, but did not meet until her grandparents found work in Houston, Texas.  While her grandparents had to wait years to become citizens, her parents were lucky in their opportunity to be official citizens of this country that represented hope that had dwindled in southern Mexico.

            Had that hope been extinguished her mother never would have had the chance to become a translator nor would her father have been given the opportunity to teach neurology at the San Fransokyo College of Medicine.   She believes it is her father’s passion for science that pulled her into her dream of being a scientist as well.   Then again Anita also liked to think her relationship with her sisters was also a factor.

            Her oldest sister, Esperanza Esmeralda Etsuko Miyazaki Martinez had been four when Anita was born. While she didn’t remember much of anything, she knew through stories of her older sister’s jealous schemes to “get rid of her”, but it was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill case of “No Longer An Only Child Syndrome”. Anita, at age five had pretty vivid memories of her new-found jealously of her new baby sister named Isabella Imelda Izumi Miyazaki Martinez.   The cycle of “getting rid of the new baby” began again with Anita’s case of “No Longer the Baby of the Family Syndrome”.  

            In any case she still loved her sisters very much.   But that did not mean she was going to be that middle child who settled for less than what the oldest and the youngest could easily achieve, shining at the edges of the spectrum.

            After all, who said the middle of the spectrum wasn’t just as powerful?

* * *

  
            Anita remembered how one day when she was ten, she and Isabella were spending time at their grandmother’s house while their parents joined Esperanza in finding a _Quinceañera_ gown. While Isabella’s five year-old mind was easily preoccupied with old animated movies about princesses, Anita had seen those same films enough times that she could say the next line before the character on screen.   Upon entering the kitchen, she saw her grandmother was absent, but a variety of different ingredients were still spread on top of the counter. Soon her hazel eyes took notice of a bottle labeled vinegar, followed by the metal bowl full of white powder.   Something in Anita’s mind told her to see what would happen if she poured the liquid into the white powder. What happened next left Anita speechless, eyes widened, unable to look away from the suddenly bubbling substance rise and fall.  

            “Anita?” catching her breath, Anita saw her grandmother had returned.   Anita began to let her head drop in shame, knowing she probably messed up the kitchen. Instead of being chastised, she noticed a smile on her grandmother’s face grow, as she knelt to her level.

            “If you want, you can help me make dessert.” Anita then returned her grandmother’s gaze, not knowing what else to say she gave her grandmother a big hug and said, “Gracias Abuela!”

            As they removed the flan from the oven, her grandmother took out the honey and said, “Remember Anita, if you don’t have the honey then you won’t have the flavor.” From there she let her douse the flan in its honey bath before they presented it after dinner that night.

            That was Anita’s first encounter with chemistry.

* * *

 

            It seemed that completing her first year of high school was not the only completed transition in Anita’s life that year. Her own _Quinceañera_ would be next week.   She already had a dress picked out, the church and party venue booked, and Anita even finally picked which of her old dolls she would give to Isabella. Even so she still had a couple of her friends and relatives of varying distance and closeness on her family tree asking questions that seemed to pertain to potential gifts.

            When her Tia Magdalena approached Anita smiled and said, “I think I’d like to have some chemistry books.” So far most of her relatives had just smiled and nodded in response or responded with raised brow before suddenly smiling.

            Tia Magdalena went the extra mile and said, “Are you sure you want science books? This is your rite of passage to becoming a young woman! Are you sure you don’t want some nice dresses, or jewelry, or anything else?” Anita felt something drop in her stomach and rise in her throat.   Challenges that barricade to keep her from responding, Anita chose to continue showing courtesy.

            “Well I am planning on participating in science fairs next year and I figured that perhaps reading about chemistry would be very helpful.”

            After her _Quinceañera_ , Anita saw that Tia Magdalena had included two presents: a sewing kit as well as a book entitled, _From Alchemy to Chemistry._ A note was included that said, “I hope I can teach you everything about sewing and see you succeed in your future science fairs _mi hermosa sobrina”_

* * *

  
            She thought her first science project would get her to district.   Anita was unable to determine what step she could have missed in the process of her experiment. Since the science fair she kept returning to her journals, and even repeating the experiment again. Though the excess of dry ice in the house without a doubt brought about the intervention from her family.  

            “We love Anita, but if you keep focusing on losing then you won’t be able to focus on what you will do to win next year.”

            “I get that but I wish I knew what I did wrong so I don’t do that again!”

            Her parents shared a look then turned back to their daughter.

            “How about you talk to a your teacher? Maybe he can tell you what to keep in mind for next year?” her dad offered. Looking up from her lap Anita relented and proceeded to send her teacher a quick email asking to meet after school about her project, right before joining her family for dinner.

* * *

   
            “You have to make it your own.” Those were the words from her teacher Anita took as gospel for the rest of her science career in high school. Sophomore year she was at least able to place second, but then her junior and senior year projects took her far. Junior year, she won at school, placed second in district, which in turn got her third place at the state level. In the experiment she tested the possibility of adding Sodium bicarbonate and Potassium bicarbonate, in form of ash, into paint which unlike those two elements possess organic compounds, and then from there she proceeded to evaluate the fire-extinguishing characteristics of the material. In mundane terms, manipulate the flammability of paint materials, which allowed her to implement very bright paint colors, proving advantageous in her display presentation too.  

            Senior year was when Anita was presented with a growing number of open doors. The first was once again with her science fair. Inspired by her winning project from last year, Anita decided to focus on fire extinguishing capabilities once again with alginate as a potential non-toxic fire-extinguishing material. This time her project took her to the International Science and Engineering Fair where she received a cash prize of $1,000 for placing third in her category.

            However, her application project for the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology needed to be something “innovative” and not just a simple demonstration of an idea.

            Anita was going through the latest orders for clothing from her online boutique her mother and Tia Magdalena helped set up two years ago when she was suddenly inspired.   Not only would her project be innovative, but also creative in every way she knew. The showcase had many projects featured that left Anita in complete awe.   She saw a display of shields used for laser deflection and detection, a display of a bike with electromagnetic coils, and a sort of x-ray that seemed to immediately pick up on a persona’s medical history by just one scan. Somehow taking time to explore the projects of her fellow applicants granted her a boost of confidence when presenting her line of UV proof clothing.

* * *

 

            As if things couldn’t get any more exciting in Anita’s life, she learned that she was going to be a contestant on _The Nation’s Got Flavor_ this summer. She had applied in the first place to see if she could make it far enough into the competition to at least get a reasonable cash prize to support her, after graduating from SFIT. Either way it seemed her participation in the show led to the earning of her nickname in college.

            At some point in the year a guy named Fred Lee from SF State who was the mascot for SFIT became a part of their friend group, who after recognizing her as the “Honey Lemon Girl” from the show, seemed to completely forget that she had another name. It didn’t take too long for her friends to follow suit in referring to her as “Honey Lemon”.  

 

* * *

 

            It has been about two years since they became superheroes.   Hiro recently turned sixteen, and he would not have his friends with him next year seeing as Honey Lemon was now entering her senior year of college along with Gogo and Wasabi. Then again, they would still be the Big Hero 6 regardless and would still go to Hiro’s presentations for his junior and sophomore years.  

            Of all the things she had accomplished she never would have guessed that a super-heroine would be among them. Then again, if she were to do her part in preserving the memory of her dear friend Tadashi, then she could not simply dream for people to be helped, so as always she continued to push those limits and make Tadashi’s dream come true for him.  

            Even as she stands beside Hiro, whose recent growth spurt has him now a mere head shorter than her, she is ready to join him as they confront Robert Callaghan at the California State Penitentiary.

            “Are you sure you still want to do this?” she said looking down at Hiro biting his lower lip, yet keeping his eyes narrowed forward, forbidding himself from looking behind. As soon as he hears her question however, he relaxes his eyes and looks up to Honey, slowly breathing in as he says, “If what the guys here said is true, then I don’t think we have a choice. It might be the only way we can find those people and get them to their families.” Honey let herself give him a small smile as she took his hand in her own, giving it a squeeze.  

            The past few months with the case of the missing John and Jane Does from all around the west coast as a result of a terrorist organization calling themselves “Helios” had been an emotional roller-coaster for all of them.

            “Hopefully you’re right and that after this it will finally be over.” She said, feeling him squeeze back, returning a smile for a brief moment before they entered the prison together to once again the very man who took away her good friend, and his older brother.         

 


	4. Of Speed and Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before they met the Hamada brothers, before SFIT, before they became members of the Big Hero 6, they had their own journeys that set them on the paths to their futures. A story of the lives of Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, and GoGo Tomago before the movie's events. There will be some thematic content.  
> Semi-Prequel to "Operation Phoenix" (coming soon).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Big Hero 6. All rights reserved to Disney and Marvel.

**Of Speed and Time**

_“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”- Nathaniel Hawthorne_

 

 

            There’s a time she doesn’t remember.   Or if she does remember its likely in dreamlike flashes experienced during slumber and forgotten by the time she knows she must get up and start her day. But she knows very well what her mother told her… or tried to keep from her.  

            Her mind has a few vague shadows that always seem to linger:

            A blanket of night, a young man and woman, a wired fence, shouting, screaming, gunshots, her clueless unassuming eyes taking notice of how she is put into another person’s arms while they stand and wait. Then there are echoes of the people holding her, trying to keep hold of their breath as they run, not stopping once, never turning back to the echoes of screams and gunfire.

            The young woman dismissed those brief flashbacks as meaningless dreams for most of her life.   While Leiko knew that there was more her friends didn’t know about her than they assumed, in turn, there was more Leiko didn’t even know about herself that her own mother was determined to hide.

            Naomi Tanaka had escaped the nightmare that was the early half of her life, and she was determined to keep that nightmare at bay forever.   Even if it meant letting her own daughter believe that her father just suddenly died in his sleep before she was born, rather than letting her know of his true fate, and her true origins.

            But this was what Leiko knew:

            She knew her family were of a Korean background, but had lived in Japan as a result of the first war that divided Korea over a century ago; hence the name Tanaka.

            Leiko knew that she was barely a year old when they moved to San Fransokyo to stay out of a potential war zone during the North Korean Revolution.

            She knows she was named Leiko, after her grandmother named Leika, and given the middle name Ethel after that same grandmother’s favorite American movie star from a very long time ago.

            She knows that she last saw her daddy the day they left Japan, for some reason or another choosing to stay behind with little protest. Though her mommy used to tell her that he loved them very much.

            Needless to say she knew her family was unusual.   Aside from feeling excluded when father’s day presents were being made in elementary school, she noticed how her friend’s mother’s would give her mommy mean looks. It was as though her mommy was a cockroach they wanted to squash.

            Then again, having a mommy who was still twenty years old when she was in kindergarten might have been a contributing factor.

            Even so, little Leiko fit in just fine with her classmates, challenging all the boys to races and winning; bragging about being the first person in the second grade to be able to ride a bike without training wheels. She may be small, but it’s those small things that make her feel as though she can take on the world.

            Not too long after she turns twelve things begin to change.   In hindsight, it must have been when the news broke out of the North Korean Revolutionary War ending with a victory in the defeat and end of the historically known Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; uniting the country as one for the first time in almost a century.  

            Leiko finds it pretty amazing that a war that had been going on for nearly a decade finally came to an end.   When she came home she saw her mother staring at her tablet as though her eyes were eternally glued to it. It wasn’t until she looked up that Leiko saw the red circles surrounding her mother’s eyes as she goes over and hugs her tight enough to have Leiko suffocated.   “Mom, what’s going on?” she sees her face go blank in her periphery. Her mom looks as though she had forgotten something, only to let go of her daughter, breathe in and put on a smile, “I love you very much.”

            “Okay, love you too.” Of course Leiko should have paid more attention to the actions of her mom at the time, but of course it all becomes clear when her mom tells her, “Your Daddy won’t be coming home.”

            This news makes her stomach curl and she bites her lip.   It shouldn’t be surprising since she stopped asking questions about him years ago, but the way it now hits her like concrete seems to enforce a sense of certainty.

            “Why?”

            “He just isn’t okay!”

            That was the first time Leiko’s mother snapped at her for anything. It was that day she decided that she did not want to deal with that side of her mother.

            The last piece of change that happened was when her mother explained why she should use her middle name. She explains that while San Fransokyo has a significant Asian demographic, it is still recommended because not as many people are as accepting of immigrants such as themselves.   Reluctantly, she becomes Leiko a.k.a. Ethel Tanaka.

 

* * *

 

            Fast forward to age fifteen.  

            Since then, her mother has remarried.   Her stepfather is okay enough.

            Except for his resistance to treat Leiko as a daughter. In fact while her mother is still the only person calling her Leiko, her own stepfather has chosen to use Ethel with her. She doesn’t make anything out of it at first when he’s still new to their family.   But he’d been with them for almost three years now.

            She knows she doesn’t need to ask.

            She knows why he does that.

            And why her mother says nothing.

            She takes out her motorbike at night and drives. She needs to get away from the man who should love her but treats her like she doesn’t matter.   To get away from the woman who raised her who should be standing up for her better treatment, but only lets him have his way.   Now she needs to be as far as humanly possible from responsibilities to her school, reminders of her lone wolf tendencies, and to feel the air aggressively brush against her face, the only way she knows she’s far from all the chaos.

            Of course she sees a crowd of people in a certain part of the Dragon District that is very secretive.   Curiosity gets the best of her and she enters unnoticed.  

            There is something that feels very liberating about watching bot fighting. Soon it becomes regular.

            Sneaking out at night, taking her bike as fast as lightning to the rings.   She usually just watches from the back and only speaks to ask if anyone has a light, continuing to breathe in the burnt sweetness of her cigarettes. Soon a bot fighter named Ian approached her with his lighter. It was that moment that led to Ethel’s nighttime adventures: sneaking out to bot fights, racing each other downtown, and then spending time in Ian’s apartment before she had to return home under the mask of darkness. She may have been sixteen while he was twenty-one, but he seemed to be the only one that cared.

            During that time he called her “babe”, “my girl”, “mine”, among others.   Of course looking back she wishes she had told someone about Ian, then maybe she would have been able to save herself from falling too deep to soon like a quicksand trap that was impossible to escape. Especially when he starts welcoming her with a hand across her face anytime she arrives late, or anytime he loses money. She feels it is justified, after all he worked hard for those bot fights, his disappointment was understandable at the time. So she began helping by entering her own bots, compensating for any losses, giving them money to share.

            One night as soon as she steps out for a smoke she hears the sirens wailing.   Deaf to logic, Ethel listens to her instincts and goes back in to find Ian who was holding on to her prize money. It seems that all time suddenly freezes when she sees him putting his tongue down the throat of a woman wearing Geisha-like makeup, one hand of his on her rear and the other in her hair. He should’ve been holding the cash. Amid the blur of her anger; Ian pushing her away and having two of his friends tell the police that they were turning her in under the claim that they caught her before she could get out, Ethel soon found herself waiting in a cell to be bailed out by her mother and stepfather.   She still doesn’t know how she managed to hold back her tears. As soon as she gets bailed out, she is subjected to listening to her stepdad explain that she should be sent away, something he would gladly do and likely convince her mother of the same.   The fact that neither of them notices her leaving on her bike only adds to her upset as she decides to pick a stopping point that was not too crowded but not too isolated.   The side alley of the Lucky Cat Café was the winner.

            Drying her eyes, she is about to light her remedial stick of nicotine when a voice says, “You know, smoking is actually terrible for your health.” Startled, she sees a guy wearing a collared shirt and jeans with a satchel over his left shoulder.   Not to mention his clean cut look that seemed to be a one hundred and eighty degree contrast from her typical company.

            “What the hell do you want nerd?” she says to the opposite wall, determined to avoid any eye contact with this stranger. In her periphery she sees him start to sit down beside her; she rolls her eyes and pulls her knees in closer, arms wrapped around them, not ready to give up.

            “You just seemed upset about something is all.” Ethel knows it is pointless when its obvious he isn’t going away anytime soon. Chuckling lightly, she turns to face him, “Seriously? You don’t even know the first thing about me, you shouldn’t even give a crap.”

            Ethel sees his face grow more serious as he moves in closer, “I may not know you, but that doesn’t mean I should let you go without helping you.” In a last ditch effort to alienate him she says, “And why do you think I need any help? I can take care of myself.” He then takes a pack of gum out of his pocket, offering it to her, “Perhaps you could try chewing these for a start instead of smoking, at least try, for me?” the sudden appearance of a puppy-dog face had Ethel defeated, knowing there was no way he was going to leave her alone unless she agreed to this stranger’s impromptu “self help program”. Suddenly, she heard the trill of what she assumed was his iPhone X.   After he put it away he extended another hand, smiling, “By the way, I’m Tadashi so you know.”

            She put out the cigarette, then returned the gesture, “Ethel.”

 

* * *

 

 

            That fateful meeting with Tadashi Hamada set off a chain of events in Ethel’s life.   Though hesitant at first, she decided to try the gum-chewing substitute.   After a few months, her lung destroying vice no longer had a presence in her life. Not only that but she began to hang out with Tadashi more often after school. While her stepfather was at least gracious enough to let her go to the City Honors High School, Tadashi was at the local public school.   It was thanks to him that he even encouraged her to try doing school teams instead of resorting to her nightlife of racing.  

            Every day they seemed to learn something new about each other.

            She learned he had a little brother named Hiro; he found out she was an only child.

            He wanted to help people, maybe even save lives; she wanted to feel the wind in her face, perhaps see the world.

            He lost his parents when he was ten; she knew nothing of her supposedly deceased father.

            He had a weakness for chocolate; listening to old boy bands was her guilty pleasure.

            They even attended the others' sports games, and science fair projects respectively.

            And of course she would never admit it to herself that she felt it was thanks to him that she was able to join him for college at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.

            

 

* * *

 

 

            When they first met, Ethel assumed that Anita was just like those spoiled mean girls who gave her nasty looks in the hallways back in high school. From her long blonde hair to her feminine fashion sense, it was hard not to make that initial judgment of character. It seemed to be the case even more so when Anita began taking selfies of the two of them before and after their room was set up.   But it was at a party after the first two weeks of school that Ethel’s first impression of Anita was challenged.

            Tadashi couldn’t make it at the last minute because of something going on with his little brother and some bullies.   The guy she sat next to in her Engineering 101 class was also not there. If anything, Terry was pretty much an acquaintance. As far as friends were concerned, Tadashi was her only one.

            In any case Anita asked her to come so she wouldn’t feel so lonely and Ethel, having nothing else better to do figured she might as well tag along. With a red solo cup in her hand, she leaned against the wall watching Anita talk to a different person every five or so minutes smiling as if she was talking to a celebrity each time.

            Ethel was about to join her roommate when her personal bubble was suddenly invaded by the stench of sweat and cheap beer.

            “Hey babe, wanna get a room?”

            “Fuck off.” She told the guy who was apparently smart enough to be attending this school. As she began walking away, that same smelly drunkard tightly grabbed her wrist. She was prepared to shove him across the room when a pink handbag came to leave a lasting bruise on the side of his face, causing the annoying partygoer to lose his grip and fall over.   Ethel turned and saw Anita was the one who came to her defense. At moments like this, Ethel would spit, “I can take care of myself!” but her brain decided to go on autopilot and say a genuine, “Thanks.” Smiling, Anita decided it was time to leave.

            And Ethel decided it was time to re-evaluate first impressions.

* * *

 

            She is tightly grabbing her hair when she realizes that she’s running late for Anita’s surprise party at the Lucky Cat Café.   Ethel saw that she had less than fifteen minutes until Anita would arrive.   She didn’t even have a bite of breakfast as she quickly threw on black pants, a bra under her shirt, running shoes, and grabbed her helmet.   Her ears were deaf to the echoes of traffic and her eyes blind to the road signals. Ethel knew her way around San Fransokyo like the number of Criterium medals she won from her later years in high school.

            Parking her bike right behind the Lucky Cat Café, entering through the backdoor, she saw she still had two minutes to spare. What she did not expect was to be approached by the pain in her side known as Fred.

            “I have never seen anyone drive so fast in my life!” chewing a fresh piece of gum, she didn’t even give him a shrug and just said to him as she chewed, “Coolio.” Of course Fred’s excitement was nearly impossible to kill as he jumped and shouted, “Hell yeah! You’re a Gogo Tomago!” lifting his hand up for a high five, Ethel ignored her popped bubble as she said, “Wait what?” As she followed him to the front of the café to surprise Anita, or as Fred liked to call her “Honey Lemon girl”, he explained, “It’s Japanese for a very fast person!” It was just then that it was time to surprise her roommate. Ethel thinks if she had gotten there earlier she may have had time to explain to Fred that Gogo was gibberish and that “tamago” as he was probably meaning to say was the Japanese word for egg, then she wouldn’t have been stuck with the bizarre nickname of Gogo Tomago.

            Then again, Gogo did have it’s own sort of appeal.

 

* * *

           

            Ethel, or Gogo as her classmates have taken to calling her, can never pinpoint the exact moment she went from feeling the same way she would with any other person around Tadashi, to feeling a nervous swarm of butterflies being held back from flying freely.   She tries to think of a scientific process to explain how or why, but at the end of the day, it may have always been there and was growing at a slow pace, much to the chagrin of the speed demon.  

            As soon as she realizes what those butterflies could mean, she knows she must do everything to continue things normally and maybe cut off time with Tadashi. She lives for the thrill of the chase, but Tadashi makes her want to take in her surroundings once in a while.   His childlike smile, his determination to help people, his gentle eyes, the way he would not be afraid to put his foot down when needed, and how anytime he talked to her she felt like she could melt away the shell she wore for everyone else.

            And it scares her.

            She doesn’t want to turn Tadashi into a monster like she did with Ian.

            However, the day before his twentieth birthday when the fifty-something test on Baymax went awry, he asks her to go with him somewhere to talk, that he’ll pick her up from her dorm in thirty minutes. Gogo decides not to think too much of it and is relieved when she sees that Honey Lemon is at the movies with Fred and Wasabi. Knowing her, she’d probably try dolling her up after jumping to the conclusion of it being a date without letting Gogo fully explain.

            He gets her on his moped soon enough, still wearing the same clothes as before, but with a satchel on his right shoulder.   Wrapping her arms around him, she almost wants to rest her head on his back, breath him in. She thankfully has the city lights flying past them as a fortunate distraction from creating an awkward situation. Pretty soon he parks the moped and leads her to the Cherry Blossom Park outside of the city limits.   The last time she was here was a picnic with her mom when she turned ten years old. A memory she only told of to Tadashi a few years ago after they became friends and her problems with her mom were getting worse.

            He pulled a thin blanket from his satchel, laying it on the ground. Without a word she sat with him on the blanket, feeling her fingers brush the blanket to feel the presence of grass for some reassurance.  

            “So…” she let her eyes move to the falling pink flowers.

            “What’s going on here?” Tadashi took a long breath through his nose before exhaling slowly, scooting closer to Gogo.

            “Well the thing is Gogo…I have something that I really need to tell you. And before I say anything I just want you to know that aside from Hiro, you are one of my closest friends and can always trust you to be there for anything. But then…” he put his face in his hand, rubbing his temples, as if trying to find the right words. Gogo swore she was starting to actually hear the sound of her blood rushing.

            “Actually I take it back…” she bit her lip when he says this, wishing she had a stick of gum to chew.

            “You’re not just that…you’re more.”

            She let go of her bottom lip and felt the cage of butterflies break free. Unfortunately he didn’t stop talking.

            “And I understand if you don’t feel the same way about me, its just that after a while I’ve decided that I just need to get this off my chest, but please know that I hope-,”

            Gogo wasn’t going to give him any more time to doubt himself as she pulled him by the shirt and let her kiss say everything. Just as Gogo was starting to think that perhaps she heard him wrong, Tadashi was returning the kiss with enough force for her to fight back in turn. One arm was now wrapped around her waist, while his other hand was stroking the side of her face. She released his shirt from her grasp as she snaked her arm around him, feeling the soft hair on his head between her fingers.   Before long, Gogo released her left hand from holding the ground, using it to secure Tadashi in her embrace, as she felt gravity pull them down. Each time they separated to breath, Gogo felt that she was being cut off from her true source of oxygen and it seemed Tadashi felt the same.

            For the first time in her clear memory Gogo did not feel the need to keep track of the minutes and seconds passing.   It felt like an eternity when they decided to lay on their sides, allowing Gogo be lost in those warm, chocolate eyes. As their fingers intertwined, Tadashi released a low chuckle.

            “I take it I had no reason to be anxious in the first place.” Gogo smiled, lightly punching his arm.            

            “About time you woman up.” They laughed for a while before Tadashi stood and offered a hand to help her up, seeing as it was probably getting late.  

            When they arrived at her dorm, Gogo stopped in her tracks and turned to her boyfriend.

            “Hey, Tadashi. I get it if you don’t want to but think we could not tell anyone about this for a while? I just don’t want people putting their noses in our business and well…I just want to enjoy it being just us, you know?” She was ready to see disappointment flash across his face but instead he kissed her nose, took in her hands, smiling, “I understand. It’s okay. Frankly, it would be nice considering how insane our friends are…” She smiled in agreement as she kissed him on the lips one more time before he had to retrieve his little brother from a bot fight.

            When she returned to the dorm room to see Honey Lemon hadn’t returned yet, Gogo was absolutely relieved as she decided that she didn’t know whether to look forward to sleep or stay awake because like those cheesy romantics worthy of her eye-rolls, reality was now so much better.

* * *

 

 

            The past six months were full of many new adventures for the young couple. They still acted like the friends they were at school, though at night they’d each say they had studying to do or errands to run when they’d really be taking over San Fransokyo. These outings included midnight picnics in Cherry Blossom Park, late night movies, the occasional rock concert, and many more. There were quarrels, but that wasn’t anything surprising since they did fight from time to time when friends anyways. The closest they came to a fight was when they were having ice cream downtown, after Tadashi saved Hiro from being present at a bot fight the police were approaching.

            “You know you can’t force him to just stop.”

            “Why not?” He said taking a bite from his chocolate ice cream.

            Gogo sighed shutting her eyes. It wasn’t the first time he would go on about how his brother needed to change and do something with his life.

            “If you want him to not waste his money on bot fighting then you have to let him figure it out for himself, you know that.”

            After finishing a few bites he replied, “But what if he never learns? I’m his big brother! I have to tell him, it’s my job!” After finishing her bubblegum ice cream Gogo gave Tadashi pointed look, as she took out a piece of gum from her pocket.

            “Look Tadashi, all I’m saying is that maybe you should actually show him why he’s better off using his brain at I don’t know… SFIT or some other university than nearly avoid arrest every other night.”

            They didn’t say anything else about it for the rest of the night, but two nights later she was happy to see that her boyfriend was actually taking her advice when she met the little genius.

 

 

* * *

 

            It happened when she invited him over to her dorm that night. Honey was out to see family and Hiro was in Sacramento with Aunt Cass for a baking convention.

            Showcase week was soon, which meant all the current students had completed their final exams.   Gogo was snuggled into Tadashi’s lap as they watched a few movies. When the finished the last one, Gogo felt something that had been clinging to her chest for so many years begging to be let go. Taking his hands she leaned back into him more.

            “Tadashi I’m going to tell you something I haven’t told anyone else that I only want you to know.” Kissing her cheek Tadashi put his arms around her.     

            “Of course Ethel, you can tell me anything.” Closing her eyes she let in a deep breath before letting it go in her answer.

            “That’s the thing…Ethel’s just my middle name. My Mom had me stop using my first name because she was being stupid and thought I’d be treated differently if I used my actual first name.” She felt his head resting on her shoulder as he pulled her in closer. She felt he was her guarding her like a castle as she shut her eyes, practically forcing herself to continue, “My first name is actually Leiko.” She felt his mouth on her neck, kissing it, sending a wave of hot shivers to her core.

            “Leiko,” he tested it out as she shifted herself to face him.   Hearing him say her real name made her heartbeat increase tenfold to the point that she could feel it drumming against her ribcage.

            “Say it again.” She demanded, not caring if her voice sounded hoarse.

            Placing his hands on her cheeks, he pulled her in and kissed her as though they were drowning, with each other as their only sources of life. They separated, gasping for air as he looked into her soul.

            “Leiko…I like it…It’s perfect for you…”

            And with that she allowed for them to venture further than she would have with Ian or anyone else.

            Her need for speed was useless as she let herself be consumed by Tadashi.   There was only fog surrounding them as they let each other into their hearts. While the world kept turning, time had frozen for them in that moment of closeness, uniting them as more than just two bodies, but rather one heartbeat, souls intertwined, kisses, touches, breaths, movements, possessing more volume than words alone. As the fog around them began to fade slowly, she clung to his naked body allowing the only comprehensible words she could think of to be vocalized, “I love you Tadashi… I love you so much.” As they drifted to sleep he kissed her forehead whispering, “I love you too Leiko,”

 

* * *

 

 

            They were going to tell everyone that night. After taking such a huge step in their relationship and with Hiro being accepted to SFIT, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough. Time had flown at hyper-speed and cruelly robbed her of the stars in her sky, the smoke of the building blocking them for good.

* * *

 

            Gogo was never letting herself go slow again for anyone. Time gives so much that is built slowly over time, but then takes it away suddenly and cruelly. Self-pity was a time waster she couldn’t afford.   She promised herself to be there for Hiro if anything happened to Tadashi a long time ago. Granted, it seemed unlikely then but hindsight is funny in that sick way.

            The past two years she did not stop stop to smell the flowers. With the criminal underworld creeping up to San Fransokyo’s surface, she had a job to herself, her friends, and Tadashi.  

            Given what Hiro had been going through, her problems were of a first world degree and still were, seeing as Hiro would need her to be his older sibling for a very long time. That is how she found herself with Fred, Wasabi, and Baymax while Hiro and Honey Lemon were visiting Callaghan in prison.

            Those terrorists that called themselves “Helios” were messed up enough to steal people lost enough from the chance to find themselves if they ever woke up. Now with Baymax hacking into the medical files of every hospital attacked by Helios, they were trying to find names for every Jane and John Doe in danger. And perhaps give hope to their loved ones that they could still be alive.

            After all, someone had to help.

            “Gogo, Wasabi, Fred. I have come across information about one of the John Does that might be worth exploring.” The robotic marshmallow broke them out of their focuses of sorting through the names and faces, turning to him to continue.

            “What is it Baymax?” asked Wasabi, that tone of concern never leaving.

            Baymax placed a hand on the computer screen in Fred’s room until it stopped at a specific profile for a John Doe.

            “This John Doe abducted from the San Jose General Hospital has the following information on file: Male, checked in May of 2043, approximate age: eighteen to twenty-three years old, status: coma, condition: alive with second degree burns on arms, neck, parts of face; event of arrival: brought to ER by a man in black wearing what appears to be a red and white Kabuki mask. Patient was losing consciousness, man left quickly before we could ask any questions. Identification process: on-going.”

            Everything froze for Gogo when she heard the robot recite: “red and white Kabuki mask”. She had to be losing her mind.   Or Baymax’s programming was in need of a serious de-bugging when Hiro came back. Before she could dismiss the nurse-bot Fred let out a nervous breath and asked, “Can we see the picture of the John Doe?” Soon enough Baymax maximized the small corner image then brought out another file from the computer’s memory of Tadashi, putting it side by side.

            “The closest case in the area I was able to find that could match this John Doe’s appearance in the hospital came from the records of deceased. Particularly matching that of Tadashi Hamada.”

            And for the first time in years, the world stopped.

 

 

           

           


End file.
